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2. Hānī Labīb in list of voters of new Coptic Orthodox Patriarch

Watanī published the list of Copts eligible to vote for the 118 th Coptic Orthodox Patriarch. The list contained 2554 names that represent many segments in the society, including: metropolitans and bishops, heads of monasteries, deputies and trustees, members of the Spiritual Council in Cairo, deputies of dioceses and agents of the Christian law, current and former Coptic ministers and incumbent members of the Majlis al-Ummah (parliament), current and former members of the General Millī Council, archons, Coptic owners, chief editors or editors of daily newspapers on condition that they are members of the Syndicate of Journalists.

The list of Copts who are eligible to vote for the new Coptic Orthodox Patriarch contains the name of Hānī Labīb, CIDT's Managing Director.

Traditionally, it is the Copts who look to America for support of their minority rights. With the Muslim Brotherhood now in the presidency, though not in full power, some Copts wonder if the United States is switching sides.

The statement of ‘looking to America’ should not be taken as normative. The Coptic Orthodox Church and most leaders of influence insist on Egyptian solutions to Egyptian problems. They believe an appeal to the West would brand Copts as traitors in their own land. Average Copts, however, often state a sentiment of longing for America – either for pressure on Cairo or as an escape through emigration.

A friend of mine asked me the other day what I think of this quote from the Economist of June 23:‘The best way to tame the Islamists, as Turkey’s experience shows, is to deny them the moral high ground to which repression elevates them, and condemn them instead to the responsibilities and compromises of day-to-day government.’

In both his presidential campaign and inaugural addresses, President Muhammad Mursī has assured the world of Egypt’s commitment to peace. Yet in the run-up to the final election on June 14, the Muslim Brotherhood published an Arabic article calling this commitment into question.

‘Should we sacrifice evangelism for coexistence, or coexistence for evangelism? This debate will concern us for the next several years.’ This quote from Rev. Andrea Zakī ended a presentation by the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cairo.

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Drs. Cornelis Hulsman, General Director of the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Arab West Report, wrote an introduction about Dr. Muhammad ‘Imārah:

He is a former leftist who turned Islamist many years ago. He is a great authority among Islamists. The figures he presents about the decline of Christianity in Europe are to a very large extent correct but he is making impossible and unfair comparisons between declining Christianity and ascending Islam in Europe.

The figures he presents of Christians are those who are attending church services. Those percentages are indeed small. But he compares that with total number of Muslims which is also done by many Islamophobes in the West to scare a Western public. If you want to make correct comparisons you have to compare between Muslims attending mosque prayers and Christians attending church services, or between people who are registered as Muslim and people who are registered as Christian. Just as with Christians many Muslims in the West are equally secular. The around one million Muslims in the Netherlands you need to compare with the around six million Christians who are registered as a church members in The Netherlands.

Dr. Khālid al-Sa'īd, spokesperson of the salafī front, denounced accusing salafists of storming a Church-owned land affiliated to the Shubrā al-Khaymah Archdiocese and calling to perform prayer in it. He was surprised from circulating these false news, according to him. While Dr. 'Isām Dirbālah, member of al-Jamā'ah al-Islāmīyah's Shūrá Council, said that the land in Shubrā is owned by a Christian who wants to build an Archdiocese without a permit. He said that al-Jamā'ah al-Islāmīyah supports the rights of non-Muslims to practice their religious rituals but legally and that is applied on all Egyptians, whether it is building a church or mosque. He added that if someone breaks the law then the state should penalize that person not individuals. (John 'Abd al-Malāk, Nuhá Lamlūm and Mahmūd Gharīb, al-Misrīyūn, November 7, 2012, p. 4)

There has been widespread condemnation of a fatwá issued by an Azhar Shaykh Hāshim Islām in which he condoned violence against those who are set to protest against the Muslim Brotherhood on August 24, 2012. Islām reasoned that “the 24 August protests are a revolution by ratters against democracy and freedom." [Update: Al-Azhar cleric encourages fighting demonstrators, sparks controversy, Author not mentioned, Egypt Independent, August 15, 2012]

Newsclippings from International Sources

A member of the Muslim Brotherhood attacked a Coptic family on Friday at Al Ma'sarah village in Malawy, south of Minya governorate (Upper Egypt). He also incited the residents of the village against the family and the whole village turned against the family to avenge them, because of playing of a child.

The Muslim Brotherhood is claiming that the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS) is a secret puppet of the U.S. for the purpose of waging a war on Islam. The propaganda places blame for all ISIS activity away from the Islamist ideology it shares with the Brotherhood and onto the U.S.

CAIRO — A couple hundred Christian protesters clashed with police in southern Egypt after holding a demonstration on Tuesday in front of a police station demanding authorities locate an abducted housewife, a security official said.